It’s so easy to forget this simple fact: NFL rosters are but an evolutionary snapshot at this time of year.

For well-run teams, it’s probably wisest to withhold harsh conclusions about how poorly their off-season roster rebuilding might be going, especially when the guy in charge has more purging to do before he can begin his reloading.

Case in point, the Baltimore Ravens.

A week ago, many of us derided the Ravens for allowing -- and in at least one case, forcing -- the exodus of so many impact players from their Super Bowl championship team.

They had to give quarterback Joe Flacco his six-year, $121 million contract, and everyone knew inside linebacker Ray Lewis would retire.

But within the span of a few days earlier this month, the Ravens cut strong safety Bernard Pollard, traded wideout Anquan Boldin to San Francisco (half an hour before they’d have cut him, to get under the cap) -- then they watched rush linebacker Paul Kruger sign with Cleveland, weak side linebacker Dannell Ellerbe jump to Miami and cornerback Cary Williams accept an offer from Philadelphia.

Late last week, perennial all-pro safety Ed Reed flew the Ravens coop and landed in Houston, making him the Ravens’ sixth top defender to leave town.

But Ozzie Newsome hasn’t earned the reputation for being one of the NFL’s wisest general managers for nothing.

Indeed, in the bigger picture the Ravens’ off-season is going sorta like their most recent on-season: Spectacular start, followed by epic fails, followed by sudden hope, and then a championship.

And on Wednesday, the Ravens agreed to give Michael Huff $6 million over three years to replace Reed at free safety. At that salary, Huff is a bargain.

The 30-year-old was cut by the Raiders two weeks ago in that club’s cap purge.

Huff is a far better tackler than Reed was last season at age 34. Better than that, he’s an exceptional pass defender, and is versatile.

“Opponents completed only 53% of passes into Huff’s coverage (last season),” Steve Palazzolo of ProFootballFocus.com wrote, “and he finished with nine passes defenced and two interceptions.

“All of this came two years removed from Huff grading (as) our No. 2 safety in the league, and one year removed from his strong play when filling in as the team’s slot cornerback.”

What’s more, consider that the Ravens might yet add an impact defender or two in next month’s draft, and that the team played the last three months of 2012 without its best cornerback -- Lardarius Webb, who tore an ACL.

Suddenly, it’s not so crazy to think the Ravens defence might be as good, or even better, in 2013.

Newsome is the real deal, folks.

BARKLEY’S PRO DAY: Matt Barkley finally threw for NFL talent evaluators on Wednesday. If you watched it live on the NFL Network, you saw him flat-out miss a number of passes -- medium and long.

Conversely, Barkley fired some passes that made you doubt those concerns about possessing mediocre pro-level arm strength.

Was he indeed fully recovered from his separated right (throwing) shoulder? Was the gusty wind to blame for the misfires? Or did he impress nonetheless?

We checked in with Rob Rang, who watched Barkley throw at USC’s pro day.

NFL Network’s Mike Mayock later reaffirmed his own assessment that Barkley is a late first-rounder.

DUBIOUS STATS?: The NFL released stats indicating an average of only 5.2 injuries were reported after Thursday games -- 0.1 fewer than after Sunday games. Former Saints and Browns linebacker Scott Fujita immediately attached this large asterisk in a series of tweets: “The reporting of injuries by players generally dips after a game that is followed by a few days off. Players certainly need to get more responsible about that. But anyone who suggests that a Thursday game is no different than a Sunday game has probably never played in a Thursday game.”

CALENDAR CHANGES: Changes to the NFL’s off-season calendar are creeping closer to reality. NFL Network’s Albert Breer reported the league and the NFLPA are continuing to discuss the revamp. And if they’re discussing anything these days, there must be something to this. Under the NFL’s proposal, the new regional scouting combines would serve as qualifiers of sorts for the main scouting combine, which would be pushed forward from late February to early March; the start of free agency would advance from mid-March to early April; and the entry draft would move from late April to May.

EXTRA POINTS: The San Diego Chargers cut underperforming, over-injured offensive tackle Jared Gaither … Former Jacksonville fullback Greg Jones agreed to a one-year deal with the Houston Texans. Arian Foster gains most of his yards behind a fullback, and Houston’s starter last year, James Casey, had signed with the Philadelphia Eagles … The Oakland Raiders’ cost-cutting continues. They released defensive tackle Tommy Kelly … Tight end Fred Davis, formerly of Washington, said he planned to meet with the New York Jets … The Cowboys did indeed sign linebacker Justin Durant, to a two-year deal. They created room to do so by renegotiating the contract of backup quarterback Kyle Orton … The Cleveland Browns have “no immediate plans” to trade former starting quarterback Colt McCoy, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported, but the team is all ears. McCoy might even ask for his release.

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After roster purge, Ravens smartly reloading on defence

It’s so easy to forget this simple fact: NFL rosters are but an evolutionary snapshot at this time of year.

For well-run teams, it’s probably wisest to withhold harsh conclusions about how poorly their off-season roster rebuilding might be going, especially when the guy in charge has more purging to do before he can begin his reloading.

Case in point, the Baltimore Ravens.

A week ago, many of us derided the Ravens for allowing -- and in at least one case, forcing -- the exodus of so many impact players from their Super Bowl championship team.

They had to give quarterback Joe Flacco his six-year, $121 million contract, and everyone knew inside linebacker Ray Lewis would retire.

But within the span of a few days earlier this month, the Ravens cut strong safety Bernard Pollard, traded wideout Anquan Boldin to San Francisco (half an hour before they’d have cut him, to get under the cap) -- then they watched rush linebacker Paul Kruger sign with Cleveland.